The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Council extends contract with Moffett consultants

By Justin Berton

Councilmembers have agreed to extend the contract for consultants who look after the city's interests regarding the Ames-Moffett Complex.

The current contract with Black Kelly Scruggs & Healy was set to expire July 30.

The issue of retaining the consultants has some councilmembers wondering what the city is getting for its money, while others insist that without lobbyists, the city's plans for the former Navy base will be forgotten by legislators in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

In the coming weeks, councilmembers will submit their short-term and long-term ideas for what they would like to see achieved at the site to city manager Robert LaSala. Once clear goals can be defined by the councilmembers, they will pass them on to the lobbyists.

The city currently pays Black Kelly Scruggs & Healy $20,000 per month plus expenses to argue for the city interests. To date, the city has spent more than $700,000 since hiring the lobbyists more than two years ago.

At an intergovermental work session June 11, Councilmember Stan Kawczynski, who has been in the minority opposing paying lobbyists, said, "Initially, they were hired to stem the flow of leaving entities. But they're not doing that anymore."

Councilmember Julia Miller also opposes continuing the consultant's contract.

But Councilmember Pat Vorreiter reassured her colleagues that lobbyists are needed for advocacy in Washington.

At the June 9 council meeting, Vorreiter said the role of the lobbyist is to be present for potential battles the city would otherwise be unaware of.

"Granted, we have not won all of those battles. But we're not going to win any if we're not there," she said.

Just what has been won and what has been lost by the lobbyists is the gray area that councilmembers are debating.

Supporters of the lobbyists have taken credit for being instrumental in securing the Navair Manor Family Housing Project in Sunnyvale. The 9.6-acre parcel was saved under the Base Realignment and Closure Act, and sold to the city by the Navy. The city was then able to sell the land to a developer with assurance that 15 percent of the homes built will be below market value.

Without the lobbyists' guidance, supporters say, the city would never have had the clout to close the deal.

Kawczynski said the land deal was made by citizens, not consultants.

"[Navair] was from letter-writing, phone calls--a whole community effort. It wasn't just the consultants," he said.

In February, Vorreiter and Miller stood alongside Assemblywoman Elaine White Alquist as she announced a state bill calling for the creation of the California Disaster Mitigation Center at Onizuka Air Station. Supporters say the lobbyists will help get the bill signed into law, allowing for the center to become the headquarters for research, development and information technology for disaster mitigation.

Councilmembers expressed concern that a proposed regional task force, one possibly lead by San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, could push to turn Moffett into a commercial airport, which Sunnyvale residents strongly oppose.

Some councilmembers say Sunnyvale has to assert its needs early on in the task force meetings.

"We don't want to be knocking on the door asking to be let in at that point," Vorreiter said. "We want to be right there all the way."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 17, 1998.
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